@Simba501 wrote:
@Dw4250 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting question as to the "real" value vs costs of rewards. In the outside world, someone might have say a Quicksilver, use it for everything, and maybe end up with a hundred dollars or so at the end of the year, depending on spend. This really is free money.
Whereas here: hours spent researching cards, hours spent tracking utilization and due dates, paying early to reduce utilization thus losing float etc. If you calculate the extra effort to do it properly, vs the additional value of the rewards, might not be so great!
Similar questions were raised in manufactured spending forums. Yes, you can get a few thousand cash back per month, but if you are spending hours going to 8 different drug stores and supermarkets, then on to 4 different walmarts, and finally to 5 banks to deposit money orders, the time and gas cost may make clipping coupons from newspapers have a better $ per hour rate!
Great points, longtime! Sometimes I think we forget how small some of these amounts are (1%, 2%, even 5%). When you actually sit down adn do the math (and figure in opportunity cost), putting all that extra effort for a few extra bucks seems like a waste. Even with MS, one really needs to churn A LOT to see any real profit.
Better to use our cards "organically" and cash in on the benefits as they come.
+1
I feel the same way.
